The opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, on Tuesday commended President Muhammadu Buhari for commissioning and flagging off for commercial use, the 185km Abuja-Kaduna standard gauge rail project, in Abuja.
Recall that the immediate past administration of Goodluck Jonathan commenced the construction of the 185 km Abuja-Kaduna standard gauge rail line, which was handled by China Civil Engineering & Construction Company, CCECC, and is one of the first standard gauge rail lines in Nigeria.
PDP in a series of tweet on its official twitter handle, @PdpNigeria said, “We are excited that President Muhammadu Buhari has commissioned our project.
“We congratulate the people of Nigeria who can enjoy the benefits of this revolutionary service.”
The opposition party also hailed former President Goodluck Jonathan for the “conceptualisation of the project as a standard gauge rail line. We sincerely hope the project fulfills the dreams he had of greater integration between the cities of Abuja & Kaduna.
“We also commend former Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala for the work put into the structure of the project. It is important to note that the structure of this project ensured that it didn’t suffer the fate of many projects before it which are abandoned by successive administrations.
“Passenger trains on the line can operate for speeds of up to 200kms per hour while cargo trains can travel at speeds up to 150kms per hour.
“Travel time between the two cities will be 1hr & 1hr30mins for passenger and cargo trains respectively.”
Noting that the rail line has nine stations, which cost $874million, PDP stated that of “this figure, $500million was provided by the China Exim Bank as a concessionary loan while the Jonathan administration paid $374million as counterpart funding.
“This project is the first in a series of developmental projects conceptualised and initiated by the Jonathan administration.”
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